After the Dust Finally Settles
by Weiila
Summary: A little bit added to the ending of the anime, with cuteness between Chiaki and Maron abound. The two of them finally have a talk about what went wrong, and what should have been done along the way to the point they're currently at. Finished.
1. Don't tease the detective, kids!

_Author's note and disclaimer: This fic is based on the anime Kamikaze Kaito Jeanne only. I own no characters, places or plot that lead up to this fic. All of that belongs to Arina Tanemura and Toei Animation. _

After the dust finally settles

Chapter one

A young woman walked back and forth on the cracked, icy ground that a cruel and crazy plot involving demons, fallen angels and two thieves with power from Heaven, had decided to offer her to stroll on. She took great care not to slip, since her body already protested against every single movement. Neither were her clothes in the best condition; torn and dirty from the gun and swords battle she had been involved in hardly an hour ago.

But despite the aching and sore spots, Toudaiji Miyako simply could not sit still. The first reason would be the fact that if she sat down, she would suffer severe frostbites on top of everything else. Secondly, despite promising to trust in those she waited for, her blood boiled with impatience.

The beams of light exploding from the distant, dark tower at the end of the frozen path had given her some hope. That and the bit about the tower dissolving. And the sunlight and rain of glittering flower petals.

But that were several looong, slooow minutes ago. By now, she could jump up and down in annoyance, and would do so if it had not been for aforementioned soreness.

"Aw, man! What are you guys up to?!" she finally shouted at the tower.

Only a brief echo answered her. Huffing, Miyako crossed her arms and narrowed her eyes at the defiant horizon.

"Making a future detective wait!" she muttered, "there's a crime, right there!"

She paused, and spent a couple of minutes amusing herself with thinking of exactly what crime that would be. Just as she hesitated between "disrespect" and "dissolute" – though the second one not sounded quite right – a pair of lighter silhouettes emerged from the shadow of the tower's remains.

Not for a second did Miyako hesitate; she instantly knew that the distant figures were her friends. If the size being unfit for demons had not been clue enough, the three big ponytails sticking out from the left silhouette's head spoke too loudly to be ignored. She had hunted that sight throughout many, many nights and knew what to look for.

"Finally!"

Miyako ran – well, marched as quickly as her body allowed – towards the approaching couple, who sped up their walk in return.

"I'll get you for making me wait so long!" Miyako shouted, "committing dissolu- disrespect towards a detective, that's-"

Her not too logical rant was cut off by a big hug from the ponytailed one.

"Can't we get a lighter punishment, for good behavior?" Kaito Jeanne softly murmured into her friend's shoulder.

"Well, uh…"

Miyako raised her silently groaning arms in an attempt to return the hug at least half as strongly.

"I suppose so, but the jury must decide," she mumbled, and got a squeeze in return as Jeanne chuckled.

She noted, with the part of her brain not busy overflowing with joy for seeing her friends safe and sound, that Jeanne for some unfair reason seemed to be both clean and healed. Then a pair of stronger arms closed around both of the young women.

"I get to hug two ladies for the price of one!" Chiaki grinned, "being sentenced for disrespect matters not anymore!"

Jeanne and Miyako let him get away with it without even a warning glare, too happy to be safe again to bother about the boy's behavior. At least until he grinned even wider and continued:

"Though that dissolute thing sounded much more fun."

Miyako nearly swallowed her tongue.

A blink of an eye later, Chiaki danced backwards to avoid the combined forces of two girl's fury and attempts to smack him to kingdom come.

"Now they're dissatisfied!" the hand-sized Access Time shouted from a safe position far above the human spectacle.

Immediately his position was violently changed due to the fist of a green-haired angel, no bigger than him.

"Dissolve!" Fin Fish cried.

The shout might have sounded more unsettling had she not been equipped with her wonderfully squeaky little voice again. As he fell, Access found a goofy smile stuck on his face, as opposed to the cringe which should have naturally been there. He quickly regained his flight and shook his hands at Fin.

"Why are we suddenly in dissonance, after all that's happened?" he shouted.

"It's not my fault, it's your Sinbad's disability to listen to his brain trying to dissuade him from being such a pervert which causes this dissension!" Fin said, hands on hips.

They stared at each other for a couple of seconds. That was as long as they possibly could keep the giggles under control. After the past events, the relief apparently decided to boil down into a bit of complete silliness.

And all was right in the world.

At least until Chiaki sunk to the ground with a groan, his legs giving away under him. Miyako and Jeanne immediately stopped their threatening advance and instead rushed to his side.

"Are you alright?" Jeanne asked, looping his right arm around her neck for support.

"Never better…"

Chiaki managed a weak grin, and held up the pointing and middle finger of his supported hand in the Victory sign.

"If you're just faking this to get closer to us, I'm arresting you for obscenity," Miyako warned as she took the youngster's other arm.

"I'm not… _that_ bad, am I?" Chiaki said.

But he only got none too encouraging glares in reply to that, and deeply sighed.

The trio turned towards the path ahead and began walking, with Fin and Access fluttering on above them.

Five minutes later, they were reminded of something important as the road ended. Abruptly.

"Oh, right…" Chiaki said with a grimace, "they cut off our way out."

He turned his head and gave Jeanne a mildly amused look.

"And who said we weren't planning on going back, meaning this wasn't anything to worry about?" he asked.

"Do you want a few more bruises?" she replied.

"Not right now, really."

Jeanne could not help but smile a little at his flat tone, and produced her ribbon from a hidden pocket in her dress.

"Then, we're going down," she said.

A nearby ice fang provided an anchor and with a quick lash Jeanne wrapped the end of the length of cloth around the uneven claw.

"Will that really be enough?" Miyako said.

She looked over the edge of the cut off road with a healthy deal of disbelief, watching the city far, far below.

"Don't worry, it'll be fine," Jeanne promised.

Miyako met her friend's gaze, and the hesitance faded almost instantly.

"Alright, if you say so," the future detective said.

Jeanne turned to Chiaki.

"Can you make it?" she asked.

He produced a snort.

"Easy," he claimed.

"Hold on tight, then."

Jeanne gave Chiaki one last warning glare to keep him from saying something along the lines of "gladly!", before stepping forwards. Miyako and Chiaki wrapped their arms tightly around the blond girl's shoulders and waist.

Empty air surrounded them, and the wind howled in their ears as the three people stormed downwards towards the unforgiving ground. But after only a few seconds, the fall turned into a gentle swing as Jeanne's ribbon caught their momentum and stretched to allow them a safe journey to the town.

They all sported arm cramps when reaching the cobblestones of the deserted fountain plaza, but it was nothing that a few minutes of screeching in agony and frantic rubbing of sore muscles could not fix.

"What a bother. Shouldn't they have thought of that before they jumped?" Access sighed, sitting cross-legged and cross-armed in midair.

As he received no reply, he looked up to see Fin watching the place they had just left behind. Following her gaze, he saw why. The Ice Fortress was evaporating, and with it the dark clouds that had covered the sky for far too long.

The female angel seemed entranced by the sight, and her face looked a few shades too pale than normal. This change did not fit well in Access' mind. He approached her, but careful this time as he still recalled the pain earned by the last glomp.

"It's going to be okay now," he said, placing a hand on her shoulder.

Fin jumped, but as she turned her head towards him the color was returning to her cheeks and she even smiled a little.

"Definitely," she said, firmly.

"That's the stuff!" Access grinned.

In his mind he jumped with joy of coming one step closer to winning Fin's heart. Maybe next time he would dare to place a hand on _each_ of her shoulders without fearing bodily harm.

Down on the ground, Miyako's arm cramps finally subsided and she stretched out with a sigh of relief. Looking around, she frowned at the lack of people.

"Where is everyone?" she said, thinking aloud.

Jeanne and Chiaki paused, and glanced upwards to look at the two angels above. Access looked at Fin.

The female angel's shoulders fell and she was unable to meet any gaze aimed at her.

"After I was defeated, everyone should be returning to normal after being frozen," she mumbled in a tiny voice.

"Fin…" Jeanne softly murmured.

"What are you looking at?" Miyako asked, breaking the awkward moment.

Chiaki acted quickly, throwing out his hands in an overblown gesture and managing a laugh.

"Oh, just our guardian angels that only we can see," he said.

Miyako eyed him in disbelief.

"Really!" he said.

With a shake of her head, Miyako wrapped her arms around herself as if she still froze, despite the rising temperature.

"Please, don't talk with me about angels," she muttered.

A shudder shook through her, and she was too busy trying to regain her composure to see Jeanne cup her hands against her chest, as if the thief cradled something to her heart.

As per usual for him, Chiaki appeared unfazed by the drastic change of his friend's mood.

"These are good angels," he said, smiling as widely as ever.

Miyako studied his perfectly calm demeanor – quite a feat of his, considering his ragged state – and eventually decided that he either saw things that were not there or simply tried to cheer her up. This time the second option sounded better.

"If you say so, then," she said, managing a small smile.

Chiaki nodded approval. During all this he tried to ignore Access, who floated back and forth above Miyako's head, making funny faces.

A hand landed on Miyako's shoulder and she turned her head to find herself looking straight at a familiar face surrounded with soft locks of brown hair.

"Maron, when did…" she started.

But once again she was silenced with a tight hug.

"You can forget about that angel now, Miyako," Maron said, "she'll never come back, I promise."

Miyako refused to admit weakness aloud, but briefly returned the hug before pulling free.

"Alright already, I'm fine now!" she stated, punching the air, "sheesh, who do you think I am?!"

Maron softly chuckled at her friend's antics, while gently rubbing her cheek against the tiny head of the angel who had curled up on the young brunette's shoulder.

Fin tried to smile.

'-'

"Mom! Dad, I'm home!"

Miyako burst through the door after one last glance over her shoulder. From the apartment came shouts from her parents, relieved to see her safe and sound despite "being outside in that sudden snowstorm".

Even if he had recovered along the way back home, Chiaki still kept one arm hanging over Maron's shoulder for support.

She was not quite sure if he really needed any help, but she let it slide this time.

"I guess I better call pops and see if he survived," Chiaki muttered as Maron opened the door to his apartment.

"And change clothes!"

The two humans and Fin looked down at Access, who held up a tear from Chiaki's dark sleeve for inspection.

"This thing is just about ready for the trashcan, Sinbad," the black-winged angel said, "you need to slip into something more comfortable, if you get my drift."

He winked.

There was a silence.

"Perverts apparently attract each other," Maron said and shoved Chiaki inside his apartment.

Access just barely managed to avoid being squashed beneath his partner-in-crime's arm as they both fell.

The door closed behind the two boys, and nobody listened to their loud protests about this cruel treatment.

"Sheez!" Maron and Fin huffed in sync as the taller of the two marched into her own apartment.

Maron closed the door, stepped out of her shoes walked further inside her home. She paused however as she came far enough to spot the abandoned tray with its two cups and pot of long cold tea.

'Noin…'

But she did not speak of the freed demon aloud, knowing that Fin already had enough pain to deal with. Even if Noin's struggle in the end led to his salvation, the path there was nothing that the little angel needed to be reminded of.

Instead, Maron turned her head towards her small companion and mustered up a smile.

"Welcome home, Fin," she said.

The angel could not possibly reach all the way around Maron's neck, but her tiny arms hugged as much as they could.

"Maron, I'm home…"


	2. Sweetness in its practical sense

_Author's Note: Warning! Reading this chapter might induce sugar cravings! You have been warned!_

Chapter two

While Maron carried the cups and pot to the kitchen to get them out of her sight until she felt energized enough to clean them, Fin curled up on the right armrest of one of the two armchairs. She remained still even as Maron came back and sat down beside her. The angel tightly hugged herself under the human's worried gaze.

Maron reached out and gently rubbed the back of Fin's head with a fingertip, without saying anything. She understood that it would take her friend more than being reverted into herself to get over the shame of all the pain she had caused. After the first pang of relief ran out, the memories came to hunt her – and now was not the time to pressure her into talking about it. Fin would share her pain by speaking when she was ready, forcing her into it might only increase the torment.

Knowing the dangers of not opening up about inner chaos though, Maron silently promised not to let it slip forever. But for the moment she decided to let Fin be until she felt better.

After a while, Maron leant her head back against the soft backrest and closed her eyes with a deep sigh. The final remains of tension began to let go of her and with it, any wish to get back up on her feet and think of something creative to do. Now the only thing she wanted to do was to let the memories of the last battle float away and give her peace of mind enough to face life after the war.

Her stomach churned. Fin turned her head at the loud belly groan and could not help but smile at Maron's exasperated look.

"If it's not one thing, it's another!" Maron said and reluctantly pushed away from the chair's comfortable softness.

She looked down at Fin.

"Do you want something too?"

"No… I'm fine," the little angel said, not looking Maron in the eye this time either.

Maron opened her mouth, hesitated and closed it again. She stepped towards the kitchen, but changed her mind again and spun around on her heel.

"It's alright now, Fin," she said.

The angel heaved herself up on her arms and nodded, smiling weakly.

"I'll be okay, Maron," she promised.

"I just want to make sure."

Maron smiled and disappeared into the kitchen.

Sighing, Fin laid back down and closed her eyes. There was just…

_Fwumph___

Her eyes shot open again as something swept past inches above her and softly crashed into the backrest of the chair. And slipped…

"Yikes!"

She rolled aside to avoid the flat, white object as it slid downwards. It finally landed on the chair's bottom, and Fin fluttered her wings to get a better view of things. Just as Maron rushed back into the room to check on what the sudden shout had been about, the little angel slapped her own forehead in disbelief.

"What is it?" Maron asked while she crossed the floor, still holding the butter knife she had planned on preparing a sandwich with.

"That Access!" Fin harrumphed, waving her arms about.

"Hmm?"

Maron picked up the notice card and read the text surrounded by symbols that seemed to be taken from the cover of an Arabian book.

_**Today at 5 pm, we will steal the last sorrow from the fair maidens' hearts.**_

_**-Kaito Access Time and Chiaki**_

"That's…" Maron began.

She paused and ran back into the kitchen to check the time, the nearest clock being hung on the wall in there.

"How much time?" Fin called after her, sounding quite a bit edgy.

"Half an hour!"

Maron returned, sans butter knife, and the gals huddled together on the floor.

"Should we lock the door?" Fin suggested.

She immediately shook her head and corrected herself.

"No, that won't work against either of them."

"Sandbags?" Maron mused, rapping her nails against the floor.

"Traps?"

"Miyako?"

"Wouldn't Inchou be better since it's Chiaki?"

"Maybe, but Miyako has combat practice."

"But she always fails capturing you!"

They stared at each other's serious expressions and cracked up in giggles within seconds. In the end, Maron ended up making a couple of normal sandwiches for her and two miniature ones for Fin to eat while they waited for the result of the boy's threat.

Seconds ticked by, and the food could not possibly last long enough to kill off enough time. The TV offered no interesting shows to ward off curious impatience, but the two girls did manage to pull through ten minutes by switching channels over and over.

The last two minutes were spent counting down the moments left, trying to be prepared for anything. And finally…

"Kaito Chiaki and Access Time have arrived!" Chiaki's voice boomed out from the balcony.

Fin and Maron spun around from staring at the entrance door, to find the young man pushing up the last inches of the balcony door with a dramatic movement, while the breeze ruffled his hair. Now he wore a normal blue t-shirt and jeans, as opposed to the torn gear he had worn during the battle. Access stood with his feet steadily planted on Chiaki's shoulder, leaning slightly the a brown stick in his tiny hand.

The ladies could not help but notice the plastic, pink bag in Chiaki's hand. It sort of ruined the overblown act.

"Fear not!" Access declared in as loud a voice that his vocal cords allowed, "for we have brought the ultimate cure for post-battle gloom!"

Two pairs of delicate eyebrows attempted to defy the laws of physics by rising higher up than they already had.

Chiaki held up the bag.

"Chocolate!" he and Access announced.

By the perfect timing of their voices, they must have practiced to say that.

They might have wanted to practice ducking, too. The surprise attack even left their hardened battle senses cold.

"Ooh! Gimme!"

And gone was the bag.

Chiaki had to admit to himself as he landed on his rear end, that he had not quite expected Maron to pounce at him to get the chocolate. Not a too bad feeling, though it might have been nicer if she had stayed longer.

"Aww no, my pocky!" Access complained, reaching his hands for Fin's disappearing back.

Maron dropped back into the armchair, humming to herself as she began to dig through the bag's contents. Fin dumped herself on the armrest again, biting away at the chocolate stick she had nabbed from Access.

Sighing a little, Chiaki got to his feet and walked closer, Access floating on behind him.

"You sure didn't pull any punches here," Maron said and looked over her shoulder, holding up a small box.

The velvety black cardboard of the small package was riddled with silver and gold flowers, making it look quite expensive. The ridiculous amount of numbers on the price label agreed with the fancy looks.

Chiaki lifted the box from her palm with his thumb and pointing finger only, and studied it for a moment.

"Well, we _are _celebrating, after all," he said.

"Sounds good to me… hey, neat!"

Maron's hands reemerged from the bag with a new treat, a glossy little sack with purple and silver stripes.

"I haven't eaten these in years!" she said.

Chiaki had to laugh as she tore at the blue ribbon keeping the sack closed. He peeked down into the big bag and reached down.

"I claim these!" he declared.

Maron looked up at the alarmingly red candy container, this one circular with a window showing the round, dark bonbon's inside.

"Doesn't those explode in your mouth?" she said, "you can have them."

"Gladly."

Still chuckling, Chiaki went to drag the other armchair closer to Maron. As he sat down, she had just emerged victorious against her candy of choice and popped three brown cubes of it into her mouth. She chewed for a couple of seconds, then paused. Access immediately took the chance to steal a bonbon from her sack, and triumphantly seated himself on the floor to deal with his quarry.

"What?" Chiaki said, worried by her thoughtful look that the chocolate tasted bad or something.

Maron shook her head and gave a soft laughter.

"I was just thinking… I'm debating about chocolate with the guy who brought it for me," she said, "suddenly I feel like a normal girl should, I guess."

"I was planning on making you enjoy a break, and that's a good start."

She looked at him from the corner of her eye while swallowing the sweet lump in her mouth.

"You tell me the truth," she said, "you're just fishing for another 'thank you', aren't you?"

Chiaki did not even flinch. Her none too suspicious tone removed all force from the accusation.

"Maybe. Eventually," he said.

And with that, he leant back and picked up one of the chocolate orbs filling his now open bag. With a fling of his thumb he catapulted it up and in a high arc into his mouth.

"Showoff," Maron said.

His retort was cut off as the crispy parts of the candy began to burst, prickling his tongue with tiny explosions. He had to cringe slightly until it faded away. When that happened, he fired off another one from his thumb and caught it on his tongue, causing Maron to shake her head in disbelief.

A green blur suddenly shot upwards from Maron's right, making her recoil a little in surprise.

"What's more in there?" Fin chirped and dove into the big bag.

"Hey! You might suffocate!" Maron warned as the pink, plastic sack seemed to come alive in her lap from all of Fin's rummaging.

The angel did not appear to be too worried about that, however. Maron reached out, but hesitated with her hands above the bag. Her small friend might get a few bruises if somebody tried to dig around all boxes and sacks while she was in the middle of it all, if not worse. The worry was mercifully cut short, however.

"Marzipan!"

Fin shot out of the bag, carrying a bar of something wrapped in yellow and gold paper. That it was almost as big as her did not seem to bother her. She landed on the table and began to tear at the wrapping.

"Let me have some too, Fin-chan!" Access shouted, bouncing off from the floor and flapping his grey wings excitedly.

He left the half-eaten bonbon behind, forgetting all about it when something more interesting came into sight.

It seemed as if Fin was about to chase him off at first, but she thought better of it. Probably because she could not possibly eat the entire marzipan bar by herself.

"Oh, fine then," she huffed as Access landed on the table a few inches from her, "but you stay on _that_ end!"

She pointed at the other end of the bar. Access pouted for a moment, but finally accepted the order and went to bring his part of the treat into view.

Rather than risking any more angelic adventures in the dangerous world of the plastic bag, Maron began to empty the bag and place the contents on the table. Glossy packages in all possible colors soon glistened under the glow of the lamps, while the two small angels filled their mouths with dark chocolate and crushed nuts.

Satisfied, Maron leant back with her bonbons, and happily chomped away. She felt utterly content right then and there, and rested her head against the backrest with a deep, happy sigh. Chiaki moved forwards, and she watched him with lazy interest from the corner of her eye.

"Some author once said something along the lines of that your choice of sweets will tell a lot about your personality," he said as he swung back into the chair.

"Hmm?" Maron mumbled.

She found the idea silly, but as she rolled it over in her mind… it did seem to have a point, at least with Chiaki and the exploding chocolate.

He did not say anything for a little while, instead focused on something in his lap. Eventually the squeaky banter between Access and Fin turned into a distant whisper in Maron's ears, and her eyelids fluttered downwards. She almost dozed, though still remaining vaguely aware of things. Idly her tongue moved the sweet remains of the chocolate around in her mouth, but the aftertaste was turning bitter.

More feeling than seeing it, she noticed how Chiaki bent towards her, and she instinctively raised a hand to bat off a possibly incoming kiss aimed at her drowsy state. That would be cheating, and he would surely not flinch at stooping so low. She opened her eyes in protest as he easily parried the back of her fingers with his own palm. The playful smile, almost a smirk, was back and secure on his lips. Maron blinked away the fatigue, with some suspicion studying his face. Now what was he up to?

"Exclusive chocolate?" he said, raising his other hand.

He had opened the little black box, and now it rested in his palm. Still feeling a little suspicious, Maron bent forwards to have a peek inside of it. Set in smooth, dark plastic were two rows of white chocolate hearts, waiting to be shared.


	3. What should have been

Chapter three

Maron realized only afterwards that she had, somewhere deep down inside, almost expected a pair of rings instead. It would not have surprised her one bit, and though the memories of the last ring she wore were painful, a new one might have softened the chaotic past. But now might not be the time for that.

"Thanks," she said and picked out one of the white hearts.

Chiaki took the one that had laid beside piece which Maron choose. He put it into his mouth normally this time, watching the girl beside him as she bit of smaller bits of the heart. She returned the gaze, suspicion and amusement creating a strange mix in the back of her eyes.

Fin noticed the change in the air first, and looked up at the two humans.

"Eep!" she whispered.

For once, Access surprised her. When she turned to him with the plan of dragging him off, he was already in the air and signaling at her to silently follow him. Fin nodded and flapped her wings. The two angels floated towards the balcony…

… they returned, picked up the marzipan bar, and finally left through the open door to continue feasting someplace where they would not be in the way.

Maron never noticed them go, too aware of the blush creeping onto her face as Chiaki continued to watch her. It had been pleasantly long since the boy last made her flustered, but now, in a situation far less uncomfortable than many other encounters had been, her cool bearings began to crack again.

She expected him to point out the suspected sign of affection, but surprisingly he completely ignored the chance to tease. Instead he broke the lock of their stares to put the chocolate box on the table, and as he leant back he rested his head against the backrest and closed his eyes. The deep breath he released through his nose sounded less a sigh, more an underline of his letting go of any remaining tension. He was completely at ease.

It could only be called a disappointment.

She hesitated, knowing Chiaki well enough to be certain that this was not at all like him. Was he planning something?

But as she kept looking at him, noticing the healing scratches on his face after the battles mere hours ago, she could not find any trace of a veiled scheme or expectation. Peculiar, since he never waited – only acted with more or less sense in his plans. Seldom to never on the receiving end. Heh, when he got that kiss on the cheek he became so surprised that he forgot about the demons around him…

… ah.

Maron softly bit her own cheek as the thought continued, bringing up a memory from the last battle.

_"Would you be satisfied if He just gave you happiness? Do you just want to stay on the receiving end?"_

She had been the one saying that. And in a way, what was the difference between such a relationship between God and his creatures, and a relationship between two humans?

Because of her own insecurity and fear of trusting Chiaki before she knew the truth about Fin and the demons, she never did thank him for using himself as a human shield over and over and over again to protect her.

That was not quite fair at all. Her decision to believe in and taking care of herself had nothing to do with it. The pang of guilt only intensified when she looked back on all the trouble he had gone through and remembered that he never once complained for his own sake.

An irritated voice in the back of her head pointed out that he hardly had been graceful about telling her what had really been going on, but it was not hardly loud enough to survive the uncomfortable thoughts filling Maron's mind.

Now she did know where both of them stood however, and she did not have to worry about being in love with Chiaki anymore. And pride or not, he had done far more for her than she could ever consider asking of him.

Chiaki heard cloth rustling against the armchair as Maron moved, but he still did not expect the weight on his shoulder. He opened his eyes and blinked like an owl as Maron's fringe tickled his ear and cheek, a few more locks of her hair falling down over his chest. A warm arm slipped in between his neck and the backrest, and he turned his head to rest his cheek against the top of the young woman's head.

For a moment an instinct similar to that of a gentleman's nudged at him to murmur a thanks for her sudden verification of affection, but the in-joke between the two Kaitos simply could not allow such a thing.

His position turned out to be a little awkward when he tried to loop an arm around Maron's shoulders, but a quick repositioning from both of them solved that within seconds. A sofa did sound like a nice alternative though, with the armrests of the chairs being in the way for the two love birds. Despite this, they settled on simply leaning on each other as well as the current situation allowed.

Chiaki felt quite content with the closeness, and simply letting the soft smell of Maron fill his nostrils. She broke the comfortable silence, however.

"I caused you a lot of trouble…"

It startled him and he looked at her, but could not catch Maron's gaze. All he saw was that she resolutely stared straight ahead. The sudden change sent a cold chill down his spine.

"No you didn't," he said, almost too quickly.

"Yes I did."

"How?"

That at least caused her to turn her head and scowl at him. Making progress now, if not an up going one.

"You kept dashing in to help me, and I just yelled at you," she said.

Chiaki blinked. This conversation was not what he had expected so soon after their victory, and insecurity caused him to retreat to teasing – even though major parts of his brain screamed that there were far wiser things he could do.

"I figured that was because you got sick and tired of my idea of repayment," he said.

Her brow twitched. Not a good sign.

Clearing his throat, Chiaki tried to suppress the anxiety which threatened to cause more trouble than it already had. He dropped the half-snicker and gravely looked at Maron.

"You did have reasons to be angry, though," he said.

He reached out and put his free hand on her cheek, keeping his gaze locked on hers as he continued to speak.

"I should have told you the truth right there by the church, when you asked me if you could really trust me. It was playing dirty not to."

There was no way she could argue against him when he admitted something such an apparent fact.

"Why didn't you?"

Maron surprised herself with her calm voice. She kept looking at Chiaki, just like him refusing to even turn away.

He opened his mouth, closed it again and shook his head.

"I wasn't thinking clearly right then," he said, "I was angry at Hijiri-sen- Noin, and then when you were finally listening to me…"

There was a brief pause as Chiaki closed his eyes and resolutely took in a deep breath. As if searching for a secure point in the moment, he rubbed his thumb against Maron's cheek. Mere moments passed, and finally he met her gaze again.

"You were finally understanding that I was sincere," he said, "telling you that I was Sinbad might have made you angry at me again, and I was frightened to think of that."

Maron tilted her head slightly, studying his scowl. This was flirty, confident and arrogant Chiaki, admitting he had been terrified of her anger – a deed which sent an embarrassed hint of red across his grim face.

She could not recall ever before thinking he was so cute. It was irresistible.

With one arm still behind Chiaki's neck, she reached out her other arm and placed a hand on the opposite armrest. The young man's stern look cracked into confusion as Maron heaved herself forwards and around. Unsure of what she was doing, he moved both arms around her shoulders to steady her in whatever she was up to.

The ending result turned out to be her sitting half on the armrest, half on his lap, her legs crossing his. With a slightly nervous smile she wound her arms around his neck and leaned at him again.

Chiaki shifted, but only after debating within himself for a while if he really dared to, simply because Maron's position quite painfully pinched his calf. As soon as he had moved a little ways away from the armrest the sting dissipated and completely disappeared from his memory.

Both of them dearly hoped that the other one could not hear their racing hearts. With Maron's forehead against his throat, though, Chiaki had little hope. But he soon got other things on his mind.

"I wasn't fair to you either, after that," Maron mumbled, showering his skin with her warm breath.

Now if only she would want to talk about more pleasant things, he would have been the happiest youngster in the world…

But though it frustrated him for a brief moment, Chiaki finally decided to surrender and let the discussion continue. He would have needed to be completely deaf not to notice that Maron's tone clearly signaled how important this was to her.

Maron expected Chiaki to try to change the subject, but even if he did she would not allow it. She did in no way want to risk that memories like these would lie in wait, buried in their memories and only waiting to explode into arguments. She knew the risk about that all too well, having heard her parents rage against each other over trivialities blown into horrifying proportions.

"That's the same as with the truth about me," Chiaki said, "it was my fault from the beginning."

He surprised her a little with continuing on the subject, but it was a good surprise. That did in no way cut her off, however.

"I was stupid," she insisted, "you helped me all the time. And even when you said you had approached me because I was Jeanne but changed your reason for fighting, I should have remembered that I changed my opinion about you over time, too."

Breathing deeply Chiaki tightened his grip of Maron, who more or less gasped for air after letting her confession out in only a couple of breaths.

"You were confused," he murmured, voice almost breaking with emotion.

Maron nodded, an awkward movement due to their positions.

"Yes, but… still…"

She sighed. Briefly she wondered if she should tell him about how Noin, as Hijiri-sensei, had coaxed her into listening to Chiaki by the church. In the end she decided to save that truth for later, however. It felt wrong to bring up one whom had fought against them but then died for their sake, right then.

Instead she picked another painful topic to finally stab all insecurity to death.

"I had a nightmare after we tried to make up," she said in a low voice.

A warm hand caressed its way over Maron's neck and to the back of her head, fingertips gently massaging her skull. The softly rasping sound of rustling hair filled her ears and she closed her eyes.

"I dreamt I was Jeanne d'Arc," she murmured, "and a knight protected me from an arrow by letting himself be hit. But when I tried to help him to his feet he drew his sword and slashed at me…"

She tried to swallow the lump in her throat, but her mouth was too dry. The fingertips had stopped moving.

"Then he told me that I must never trust anybody, and he had the most hideous smirk… and then his helmet and armor disappeared, and it was you as Sinbad who smirked down at me…"

Almost all air was forced out of her lungs when Chiaki's arms fiercely clenched around her, but despite this and the fire under her skin she gasped out:

"… and I was burned at the stake…"

She hardly heard herself, for Chiaki's cheek was pressed against hers and he held her so tightly that there almost was a risk that she would be crushed.

"Maron, I would never, ever… would never… Maron…"

His voice wavered and faltered into a dying croak. Shaken, Maron clutched his neck, rubbing her cheek against his. She had never seen him hurt so much, and it was her fault.

"I know, Chiaki, I know, it was just a dream, I'm sorry…" she hoarsely whispered.

It took them several minutes to calm themselves down, never letting go of each other for a moment. When she finally felt Chiaki begin to relax, Maron moved a hand to his other cheek.

"I'm sorry, Chiaki, I never thought you'd-"

"No…"

He placed his own hand over hers.

"It's better that I know than that you hide stuff like that," he said.

Finally he could look her in the eye again, darker brown eyes reflecting lighter.

"I have no more secrets," he said, "I don't want there to be anymore between us."

With a brave little smile, Maron nodded.

She reached up, and Chiaki bent his neck while carefully changing his grip to support her. The kiss tasted sweetly from the chocolate they had both eaten.

It had been too long, and too much pain since the last one. Only desperate need for air could make them break it, and as soon as they had caught their breath again they leant in for another.

Eventually Maron sank back against Chiaki's chest with a soft smile on her lips, while his fingers gently tangled themselves in her hair.

They sat like that for a while, merely being at peace with each other and the world.

Maron looked up as she heard a light chuckle.

"What?" she asked.

Chiaki grinned slightly. It looked almost as if he tried to keep his lips under control despite his amusement. With a pang of renewed guilt Maron realized that he worried about reminding her about the smirk in her dream. He did not let her linger on that, however.

"I just realized how silly it was for you to be scared of Sinbad, even in a dream," he said.

Maron raised an eyebrow. Chuckling again, Chiaki lifted his free hand and lightly pressed his pointing finger against the tip of her nose.

"You were worried about being weak, when you have to have the most guts of any girl I've ever known," he said.

"How so?" Maron said.

She turned her head away from his finger, but it was as playfully as he had poked her.

"When I saved you from the trap hole at the working site, you never hesitated to say that you'd do anything to repay me," Chiaki said, "and that despite the fact that you thought I worked for the Devil! If that isn't brave I don't know what is."

"Could be stupid," Maron said.

"Or honorable."

"Yeah, that sounds better."

They looked at each other and laughed.

Even as he chuckled, Chiaki bent down and kissed Maron's brow.

"We're going to be just fine…" she murmured.

"Yeah…"

Chiaki smiled against her hair.

"I've gotten the most elusive beauty tonight," he whispered.

"Oh, you…"

Softly laughing, Maron hugged herself closer and rested her head on his shoulder again.

Just fine, together.

**End. **


End file.
